Starting again

kylith

I was just away for a week and had arranged for a neighbour to feed my fish, needless to say I arrived home to find them floating. Judging by the amount of food around the feeding hole they seem to have been fed to death. I feel worse about these guys than about other fish I've lost; Mr. Slant and Mr. Miaggi were the friendliest fish I've ever had, and were starting to eat from my hand.

I'm debating what to do with my tank now. It's a 35l BiUbe (like the BiOrb but a cylinder). There is a heater, but am a novice at fishkeeping so I'm not too confident about that idea, though I would love a Siamese Fighting Fish and a tankmate or two, when I know what I'm doing. From my research White Cloud Minnows seem pretty hardy, and don't need a heater so I was thinking of some of them.

To be honest, the tank is kind of depressing me and I've started thinking of getting rid, but I miss having fish; they're so soothing to watch. I feel guilty about Mssrs. Slant and Miaggi's deaths too.

If you had a 35l tank, tall rather than wide, what would you put in it?

Sleepy

I'd be looking into it's suitability for tetras...

godtabh

kylith wrote: »

If you had a 35l tank, tall rather than wide, what would you put in it?

Not very much unfortunately

I'd be looking at a small group of neon tetras. Maybe 10 max

Sleepy

Luckily, 10 neon tetras would look fantastic in it...

Silverfish

Tetras or rasboras would be suitable alright, no more than 10 or so though.

Maybe you could put fine gravel in it, plant it and keep some cherry or crystal red shrimp too?

I have a 25L Fluval Chi, I keep 7 pseudomygil signifer fish and about 50 cherry shrimp in it.

kylith

Silverfish wrote: »

Tetras or rasboras would be suitable alright, no more than 10 or so though.

Maybe you could put fine gravel in it, plant it and keep some cherry or crystal red shrimp too?

I have a 25L Fluval Chi, I keep 7 pseudomygil signifer fish and about 50 cherry shrimp in it.

Shrimp don't really appeal to me, unless I could eat them. The pseudomygil signifers are very pretty though. Are they fairly easy to keep?

Silverfish

Easy enough, I lost one when the heater was unplugged for a day or two, and another jumped out of the tank, the temperature will need to be in the region of 20-26 degrees - same for rasboras and tetras.

Your best bet is to go to the shop and have a look at what fish you like - bear in mind though that only very small tropicals with a small bioload will thrive in 35L - it would be too little for guppies, mollies etc.

The mini heaters are cheap enough too I think.

Degsy

Would such a tank be suitable for a few barbs? they're very energetic fish and entertaining,especially at feeding time!

Silverfish

Barbs are not recommended for tanks less than 100L

Wonder why, they seem small, but I don't know anything about them tbh. They might need to shoal.

EDIT: barbs reach 3 inches in length, and are a shoaling fish. so a no go for less than 100 litres.

Silverfish

If you want a fish that's as interactive as a goldfish, you could look at dwarf puffers.



Could probably put 4 of these guys in your tank, with a heater. You'd need to add a few live plants, as they get bored easily. They'll watch you, and follow your movements.

Oranage2

I had two weather loach when i started off and they were brilliant and you dont need a heater

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-dojoloach.htm

Well it says you need a tank 3-4 bigger than the one you have so maybe not a option


You could try a few zebra danios - used these to cycle a tank and they lived for a good 3 years after using them so easy enough not to kill.

Dwarf Gouramis are pretty hardy too
http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-DwarfGourami.htm

Though you might just be scrapping by with the fish space requirments


With your size tank i'd get the siamese fighting fish and maybe a small frog. If you have fast moving fish and a siamese fighter the fast fish will eat all the food before the siamese so maybe not best mixing them with minnows.

kylith

Oranage2 wrote: »

With your size tank i'd get the siamese fighting fish and maybe a small frog. If you have fast moving fish and a siamese fighter the fast fish will eat all the food before the siamese so maybe not best mixing them with minnows.

Looking at the Bettas on that Fishlore site. It's making them sound manageable.

Silverfish

Bettas are lovely, very easy to keep, all they need is the right temps, very little fuss.

I'd only really keep bettas on their own, their tails get nipped a lot by faster smaller fish.

Dwarf gouramis need 75 litres, according to that site, so over twice the size you have now.

Oranage2

Silverfish wrote: »

Bettas are lovely, very easy to keep, all they need is the right temps, very little fuss.

I'd only really keep bettas on their own, their tails get nipped a lot by faster smaller fish.

Dwarf gouramis need 75 litres, according to that site, so over twice the size you have now.

The site is in American gallons - not much difference really between US and european gallons. though your right, the fish would be too big for the tank.


As for the Bettas - really easy to look after and really hardy as they have a lung that makes them able to breath oxygen so water changes wont affect them too much. like a lot of aggresive fish they're kinda scardy cats and like to hide a lot so maybe put in a cave and i few plants/hiding places. Also make sure there isnt a strong current in the tank like the filter set up too high - they're very weak swimmers -

Silverfish

Oranage2 wrote: »

The site is in American gallons - not much difference really between US and european gallons. though your right, the fish would be too big for the tank.

It's in gallons. The OP's tank is 32 litres. 20 gallon or larger = 75 litres. So way too small.

Oranage2

Silverfish wrote: »

It's in gallons. The OP's tank is 32 litres. 20 gallon or larger = 75 litres. So way too small.

Yes, like i said in my previous post - You are right I'm am wrong I am sorry for suggestion that the fish might fit - the dwarf gourami would be too big for the tank. You are also right 20 USA gallons equal 75 litres which is double the tank size of the OP.

Silverfish

Oranage2 wrote: »

Yes, like i said in my previous post - You are right I'm am wrong I am sorry for suggestion that the fish might fit - the dwarf gourami would be too big for the tank. You are also right 20 USA gallons equal 75 litres which is double the tank size of the OP.

Oh sorry I was confused myself.

kylith

Oranage2 wrote: »

With your size tank i'd get the siamese fighting fish and maybe a small frog. If you have fast moving fish and a siamese fighter the fast fish will eat all the food before the siamese so maybe not best mixing them with minnows.

I've been looking into Dwarf African Frogs since you suggested them, and I must say that I'm intrigued.

From my reading I'd probably be looking for a female (OH is driven mad by the humming of the pump, so the singing of a male frog would do his head in). Is there anywhere in Dublin that sells them so I could go in and have a look at the setup needed and see how suitable they would be.

Have pretty much decided to get a Betta now (was talking to OH about it and he was uninterested until I showed him some pictures, and now he's adamant that I get one). Just waiting on new filters and testing kit to arrive, then will cycle the tank and look at getting a fish in, so I'll also be looking for somewhere that sells Bettas.

I've found a place that sells both Bettas and frogs online (Seahorse Aquariums, they have a 7 day guarantee) but I presume that it would be better to go to a shop and see before I buy.

Silverfish

Seahorse have some nice bettas in, I think they get deliveries on a Thursday so Fri / Sat / Sun would be best to go in.

While the tank volume is fine for frogs, the tank shape is not... Biubes and Biorbs are not really very practical tanks.

(this is from me with a Fluval Chi and a Fluval Edge which are not very practical either)

Silverfish

Made the mistake of looking up those frogs, now I want some

kylith

Silverfish wrote: »

Seahorse have some nice bettas in, I think they get deliveries on a Thursday so Fri / Sat / Sun would be best to go in.

While the tank volume is fine for frogs, the tank shape is not... Biubes and Biorbs are not really very practical tanks.

(this is from me with a Fluval Chi and a Fluval Edge which are not very practical either)

From my googling it seems that these frogs don't need anywhere to come out of the water so a Biube may be alright, but opinion seems divided. I guess I'll know more once I talk to someone who has kept them.

ETA: I see that Seahorse is not too far from the Red Cow. I don't have a car, would it be walking distance from the Luas, does anyone know?

Oranage2

kylith wrote: »

From my googling it seems that these frogs don't need anywhere to come out of the water so a Biube may be alright, but opinion seems divided. I guess I'll know more once I talk to someone who has kept them.

ETA: I see that Seahorse is not too far from the Red Cow. I don't have a car, would it be walking distance from the Luas, does anyone know?

From what i remember seahorses is is like the second left turn after the red cow - i'd say its walkable -

As for the African dwarf frogs - i bought 2 from wackers on the long lime rd about a years ago 3 euro each - put them in my 180litre community tank and never saw them again - The biggest problem with them is trying to feed them but i cant see a problem if you're putting one in with a betta as they're really slow moving. As for your OH, as soon as you have fish in the tank they'll be the person buying all the decorations and wanting to up-grade to a bigger tank.

kylith

Right, so I gave the tank a good clean, but in some nice plants (hygrophilia and lotus) and some wood from the fish shop, put in the enzymes that came in the BiUbe pack, filled it with water, turned it on and left it. I came back from holiday yesterday and 3 things are obvious 1) my heater appears to be broken 2) there is a white furry algae on the wood 3) the water has turned red.

1) necessitates a new heater. I've turned it up now and the element feels warm. Temp is showing 19.5C
2) I don't really know what to do about until I can get some algae eaters in there. I'm currently trying to source Otos in Dublin as I feel they're the only thing small enough to be happy in the Ube.
3) has me completely stumped. Could it be colour from the wood? Should I do a water change? Will I need to cycle the tank again?

Chlorine is 0. Nitrate and Nitrite are both 0. Ph is 7. I've just noticed that my strips (am waiting for proper test to arrive) don't measure Ammonia.

ANXIOUS

kylith wrote: »

Right, so I gave the tank a good clean, but in some nice plants (hygrophilia and lotus) and some wood from the fish shop, put in the enzymes that came in the BiUbe pack, filled it with water, turned it on and left it. I came back from holiday yesterday and 3 things are obvious 1) my heater appears to be broken 2) there is a white furry algae on the wood 3) the water has turned red.

1) necessitates a new heater. I've turned it up now and the element feels warm. Temp is showing 19.5C
2) I don't really know what to do about until I can get some algae eaters in there. I'm currently trying to source Otos in Dublin as I feel they're the only thing small enough to be happy in the Ube.
3) has me completely stumped. Could it be colour from the wood? Should I do a water change? Will I need to cycle the tank again?

Chlorine is 0. Nitrate and Nitrite are both 0. Ph is 7. I've just noticed that my strips (am waiting for proper test to arrive) don't measure Ammonia.

Did you soak the wood for a day or two?

kylith

I soaked it for 24 hours before I put it in. There was no sign of redness in the water then.

ANXIOUS

kylith wrote: »

I soaked it for 24 hours before I put it in. There was no sign of redness in the water then.

Thats the only thing i can think of, id do 20% water changes. It shouldnt need to be cycled again.

kylith

I've done that now, and the colour is slightly paler now. Should I continue with daily changes until the colour is gone before getting any fish?

Sleepy

That's what I'd do. I got some minor discolouration of my water from wood as well but the filter is largely taking care of it. Some carbon filter material might help?

kylith

It's a BiUbe, so I'm kind of stuck using their filter.

Sleepy

Put some carbon in a tied off piece of tights and just leave it in the tank and it should soak up a fair bit once there's a current at all?

kylith

Thanks will see if I can get some.